Bill Paxton 'relieved by Big Love end'

Bill Paxton has revealed that he is "relieved" that he has finished filming the fifth and final season of Big Love.

Paxton, who plays Bill Henrickson, told the Los Angeles Times that shooting the show was "intense".

"[I'm] relieved," he said. "Relieved I got through the season in one piece. It's a very hard role to perform for six months every year. This season took it to another level."

Paxton admitted that playing Bill was tiring, saying: "It wears you out. There was a time between this season and last season when I thought, 'I just don't have the stamina to do this'. I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, but there's a point where your body just says, 'Hey, I've had enough'."

However, Paxton revealed that he would have been "glad" to have filmed a sixth season if HBO hadn't canceled the show.

"I think it was probably the greatest thing I was ever involved in as an actor, besides a couple of film roles I've done," he said. "It's the first time I ever got to do an ongoing character. It was wonderful to get into the kind of complexity and depth you can get into with a long-form serial like this."